Dive Brief:
- The National Security Agency (NSA) created a recycling mascot as part of its STEM Recycling Challenge to encourage Maryland students to reduce waste. The NSA is also asking students to brainstorm different ways to eliminate waste from entering the waste stream.
- The mascot, a recycling bin named "Dunk," stars in a video that calls for students to perform a "waste audit" to assess the amount of materials that can be diverted from landfills via recycling.
- The agency conceived of Dunk as a way to celebrate Earth Day. The NSA says that the agency itself has been "going green" for the past 25 years.
Dive Insight:
One way to get young minds more recycling-oriented is certainly through directly targeting them, though considering a recent study that humans may not recycle purely out of human nature, it's unclear how fruitful efforts like this will ultimately play out.